(Adds government assuring compensation) DHAKA, March 24 (Reuters) - The Bangladesh army was called in to slaughter chickens infected with the H5N1 virus on Saturday after protests by workers at a state-run poultry farm near the Bangladesh capital. The farm at Jirani Bazar, 30 km north of Dhaka, is one of six where the avian flu has been detected. Authorities have ordered a mass cull to prevent the disease spreading through the densely populated nation. Employees said the cull would threaten their livelihood. "We cannot let this burning go ahead," said Jannatul Ferdous. "If the birds go, we will starve to death." Other workers stood outside the gates of the small farm chanting: "Go away, don't kill the birds." Farm official Mahbubur Rashid said troops were called in to complete the culling of the birds. The government assured the affected farm owners they would be compensated. Nearly 38,000 poultry have been killed in the six infected farms after about 12,000 had died from the disease, officials from the livestock ministry said. All domestic and farm poultry in farms within 1 sq-km (0.4 sq-mile) of the infected farms will be killed. Health experts fear the virus could trigger a pandemic if it learns to transmit efficiently between humans. "The government has decided to pay compensation to the poultry farmers," Syed Fahim Munaim, press secretary to the head of the interim authority, told reporters. "The government is very much determined to ensure that the deadly virus does not travel further," a government official said. The government has banned transport of poultry from affected areas, imposed constant monitoring of poultry farms across Bangladesh by joint forces led by the army and introduced health checks on people working on the farms. (Additional reporting by Azad Maumder, Masud Karim and Ruma Paul)
